


How to be a Heartbreaker

by PoorUnfortunateSoul



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Asexual Character, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Break Up, Eventual Keith/Lance (Voltron), F/M, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Magic-Users, friends with benefits allura/lance, heartbreaker lance, player lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-06 21:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15204146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoorUnfortunateSoul/pseuds/PoorUnfortunateSoul
Summary: In a world full of talents, Lance is born with Charm - the ability to make anyone fall in love with him with a snap of his fingers. He works in the Heartbreaker Industry, a small company that makes a profit by breaking people's hearts. Lance makes a living getting petty revenge for people, one of the few uses Charm is good for.Lance has a moral code - no using Charm for his own personal gain. He'd rather someone fall in love with him because they love him, not because of his Talent. Even if that means never getting the one person he's always wanted.However, he has no problems with using it for personal revenge.__________________Based loosely off of How to be a Heartbreaker, by Marina and the Diamonds.





	1. Cure for a Broken Heart

_Rule Number One: You Gotta Have Fun_

__0_0_0__

“So, what do I owe this pleasure?” Allura asks, stretching her arms above her head.

She pulls her hair back with a ponytail that she always keeps on her wrist when Lance calls. Lance watches the tight muscles on her back move. Allura teaches self-defense classes as a side job, per her Talent being spreadable defenses, and she could probably beat Lance within an inch of his life if she wanted to. It’s probably for the best that Lance is on her good side.

“Is it the guilt?” she presses, turning around to look at him.

She tilts her head innocently, letting her snow-white hair fall over her shoulder. Lance shakes his head, but Allura doesn’t look convinced. She grabs his shirt from the end of her bed and holds it up questioningly. Lance nods, and she pulls it over her head.

“So,” she says, flopping over to lay on Lance’s chest. She props herself up on her elbows, purposefully digging them into Lance’s chest. He’s so used to it by now that he doesn’t even flinch. “If it’s not the guilt, then what is it? Lamenting about how ‘lame’ your Talent is, again?”

“No,” Lance murmurs, tugging on her ponytail gently.

Allura looks at him through half-lidded eyes, not believing a word of what he’s saying.

“So if it’s not your talent,” she says, ticking it off with her fingers, “and it’s not the guilt, then that leaves one thing. What happened with Keith?”

“Nothing,” Lance lies, looking up at her ceiling.

Allura pinches one of his nipples, and he yelps. He swats at her hand, pouting.

“You’re fooling no one McClain,” she warns, “Seriously, Lance, if the guilt is getting to you, you should quit. There’s plenty of other career paths for your Talent.”

Lance groans, and Allura looks unimpressed. She pinches his nipple again.

“Ow, _fuck_ , why?”

“Tell me,” she demands, leaning forward so their foreheads touch. “You don’t call me for a spontaneous booty call if you’re not brooding over something.”

 “Can’t you just let me wallow?” Lance asks, but he already knows the answer.

Allura rolls her eyes, and never backs out of his personal space. The tic-tac she’d shoved into her mouth before they started making out has started to give way, and her breath smells more like the Chinese food she ate.

“No,” she says, and Lance moans again. “You know I can’t! Sex is a good distraction, but it’s not a good coping mechanism, you know that. We have to talk about it.”

“You’re very involved, for a supposed no strings attached fuck buddy.”

Allura hums, amused now. She leans back and sits up straight, straddling Lance’s stomach.

“If you wanted someone that wasn’t involved, maybe you shouldn’t be fucking a therapist.”

“Could be worse,” Lance points out, “I could be fucking my own therapist, and not someone else’s.”

Allura snickers above him, and Lance places his hands on her hips to keep her steady.

“Very true, McClain, very true,” she says, running her hands up Lance’s sides. He shudders, and she smirks down at him. “Tell me, or I’ll do The Thing.”

Lance narrows his eyes at her.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me,” she threatens, hands poised at his sides, ready to tickle his weakest point at a moments notice.

They have a stare-down for a few moments, and when it becomes clear that Lance won’t back down, Allura gently moves her finger-tips over his sides. Lance shrieks immediately, and she becomes more aggressive with it.

“Tell me!” she demands, though it falls a little flat since she’s laughing just as hard as Lance.

“Never!” he screams, “Seriously, Allura, if you don’t let up I _will_ piss all over your twenty thousand dollar bed!”

Allura doesn’t stop, but she does let up a bit. She gets up close again.

Whispering in his ear, Allura says, “And if I’m into that?”

“Allura!” Lance complains, flailing around to get out from under her.

Allura uses her Talent to keep herself in place, and Lance pouts.

“That’s chea- AHA - Stop it!”

Lance weakly grabs at her fingers, but Allura is relentless.

“So was using Charm on me when we first met,” She says, matter-of-factly, and she stops moving her fingers.

Lance grins up at her.

“How could I not have? You were the most beautiful girl in that bar, you know.”

“Oh, Lance,” Allura says, fluttering her eyelashes overdramtigcally, “Flattery will get you _everywhere._ ”

They both snicker at that, and she flops down next to Lance on the bed. Their laughter fades, and Lance sighs.

“Lotor broke up with him,” Lance says.

Allura props her head up on her hand to see Lance better. She frowns at him.

“Isn’t that good for you, though?” she asks. “He’s single now.”

Lance shrugs.

“Single doesn’t mean he wants _me._ ”

Allura hums sympathetically.

“And you came here tonight because…”

“Because he needed comfort. And I did.”

Allura pauses. She gives him a slightly disappointed look.

“Lance, you didn’t…”

She mimics fucking with her fingers, and Lance shakes his head.

“No! We just, like, cuddled and shit.”

“That sounds nice,” Allura comments, resting her cheek against Lance’s shoulder.

He puts an arm around her shoulder.

“It _was_ , but it kinda sucks, because I got to have this nice night of intimacy with him, for the first time in _forever._ We used to do that shit all the time in high school, but it made Lotor uncomfortable and jealous so Keith just… stopped. All affections were off the table. So, it _was_ nice, and I wouldn’t trade tonight for anything, but… that’s it. He’s got such a big heart, and he’s incredibly good looking. He’ll find a boyfriend soon enough, and it’ll go back to before.”

Allura kisses his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she says, and Lance shrugs.

“It’s not your fault. Thank you for making me talk about it, though,” Lance says, earnestly. “It does feel good to voice this stuff, though I’m not sure if a fuck buddy is who you’re supposed to tell it too.”

Allura laughs.

“I suppose not, but you’re not supposed to be friends with them, either. But we are, and you know I’d do anything for you, Lance.”

Lance smiles at her ceiling.

“Yeah. Same here.” It’s quiet for a few seconds, and Lance says, “So, piss, huh?”

“Lance!” she complains, smacking his shoulder. “It was a joke! Shut up.”

“Sure,” Lance says, “I’m sorry.”

They both know he isn’t.


	2. I Can't Keep you in These Arms

_Rule Number Two: Don't get Attached to Somebody you Could Lose_

___0_0_0__ _

Keith barely has enough time to get out of the way before Lance is barreling into his apartment like a hurricane. Lance’s hair is still wet from his shower, and his socks are mix-matched. Keith gives him a small smile when he grabs his shoulders.

“What’s the SOS? Are you hurt? Do I need to take you to the emergency room? Did you cut yourself on one of your knives? I _told_ you a knife collection was dangerous, Keith! You told me it’d be okay! And now I’m getting SOS tex-“

“Lance!” Keith cuts him off, laughing. “Lance, I’m fine. No knife injuries, I promise.”

Lance still checks over Keith’s arms just in case, and Keith lets him. Satisfied when he finds nothing, he steps out of Keith’s personal space.

“Okay, so no bodily injuries,” Lance says, kicking off his shoes. “What was the SOS for, then?”

“Lotor broke up with me.”

Lance over at Keith. He’s smiling, but his lips wobble a little. Lance quickly gathers him in his arms, and the damn breaks almost immediately.

Lance has always hated hearing Keith cry. It’s an ugly, broken sound. Growing up with three siblings, he’s heard plenty of crying in his lifetime, but none of it sounds like Keith. He almost sounds like he doesn’t know how to do it right, which is an absurd thought because no one really _learns_ how to cry, but it’s true.

Everyone else seems to make a pattern of noises when they cry, but Keith doesn’t. It’s mostly just choppy incoherent noises, and none of them ever sound the same. It’s an ugly sound that expresses genuine pain from someone Lance cares deeply about, and he _hates_ it.

He’s only ever heard Keith cry four other times in their sixteen years of knowing each other. Once when they were five, and they’d only known each other for a few months. He’d slipped when they were playing in the woods and cracked his head open on some rocks by the river bed.

He’d cried on Mother’s Day when they were nine, after Lance told him all the things he and his siblings had planned on doing for his mother once school was over. Keith had asked his father if his mother would come back, just for the day so they could celebrate. It was the first time her leaving had really cemented as a permeant thing in Keith’s mind.

Of course, he’d also seen Keith cry the day his father died. They were elevan, and Lance held his hand throughout the entirety of the funeral, even though a few other kids from their class had thought it was weird.

The worse one was when they were eighteen, and suddenly they had to make adult decisions. Everyone felt pressure then, but Lance thinks Keith had it worse than everyone else. Lance had his parents to help guide him, but Keith had no one. He had to do it all himself - looking at schools, applying for loans, and trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. All on top of finding a new place to live, because once he was eighteen, the orphanage couldn’t keep him anymore.

All of it had been building up, but he never told Lance any of it. It had all come to a head, when Keith dropped one of Lance’s favorite cups on his kitchen floor. His sister had made it for him in her art class, and it had a poorly drawn Pikachu at the bottom, with a speech bubble that said, “Veronica loves you!” Lance couldn’t even find it in himself to be mad, once he’d heard the sound Keith made. It almost sounded like he was drowning in his own blood.

Lance hasn’t heard Keith cry in almost three years, but he still remembers what to do. He carefully leads him over to the couch in the living room. Once you walk into Keith’s apartment, you’re basically in the kitchen. Just past it is where Lance takes Keith.

Once Keith is settled in, Lance grabs the blanket from behind the couch. He wraps it around Keith’s shoulders, and leans down to kiss his forehead.

“Kisses fix everything,” Lance promises.

Keith gives him a shaky smile.

“Kisses fix everything,” Keith agrees.

 Lance moves back to the kitchen, and begins making Keith some tea. The kisses promise is left over from their childhood, a tradition they made a silent promise to keep from when they were young.

_“What was that for?” Keith asks, rubbing the spot Lance just kissed._

_He’s looking at him strangely, but Lance doesn’t seem bothered._

_“You said you have a headache,” Lance says, “My mommy said kisses can fix everything. Doesn’t it feel better?”_

_Keith sticks out his tongue, considering._

_“… Yeah, kind of,” he admits, and Lance beams at him._

Lance smiles fondly at the memory, as he hands Keith his tea. He settles in next to Keith, letting the blanket burrito find a home leaning on his chest.

“So, what happened?” Lance asks, holding Keith tightly.

Keith is so wrapped up, that all Lance can look at when he talks is the top of his head.

 “Same thing that always happens,” Keith says, then he mimics Lotor’s post tone. “I _t’s been three years, Keith, a man has needs. If you can’t fulfill them, I will find someone who will._ ”

“I thought you told him you were ace before you even had your first date?” Lance asks, rubbing Keith’s back sympathetically.

“I _did_ ,” Keith says. “He told me he didn’t care. It wasn’t even an issue until four months ago.”

“What happened four months ago?” Lance asks.

“I told him that I might be down to try having sex someday,” Keith admits. “I don’t know. I don’t particularly care one way or another if I die a virgin, but it seemed important to him. Lack of the sexual appeal aside, I can see the attractiveness in the intimacy and trust in it, and I trusted him enough to not do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.”

Lance ignores the jealousy that makes him curls his fingers inward. It’s not the thought of Keith having sex with someone else, so much as the discomfort comes from someone getting so much trust from him. Lance would kill to have Keith trust him that much, and Lotor just threw it away.

“I wasn’t ready quick enough, and he left. Lance?” Keith says, titling his head up to look at him. Lance hums inquisitively. “Why can’t I be normal?”

“Hey, no, none of that,” Lance scolds lightly, carefully rubbing the fresh tears from Keith’s eyes. “If he didn’t want to wait until you were comfortable, then that’s on him and not you. You didn’t do anything wrong, Keith.”

“He waited for _three years._ ”

“It doesn’t matter!” Lance says, “Three days, three years, it doesn’t fucking matter. You can’t force yourself to be ready for that stuff, Keith. It would’ve sucked for you if you weren’t, and it would’ve turned you off from it forever, and we would’ve been in this position anyways.”

Keith drops his face against Lance’s chest. He places a hand against the back of Keith’s head.

“Lance?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m really scared that I’ll never find anyone that’ll be patient with me.”

Lance closes his eyes, and puts his face in Keith’s hair.

 _I would,_ he thinks. _I so would._

He doesn’t say it out loud, though. If Keith had ever wanted Lance, all he ever had to do was say so. He never did, and Lance respects that.

He knows he could use Charm. There’s plenty of people he works with, that got their significant other using Charm. It isn’t illegal to do so; it isn’t even looked down upon in the U.S., since all it is, is “gentle” persuasion. Lance has never been able to bring himself to do it, though. He doesn’t think he could live life, wondering if the person he’s spending his life with even really likes him, or if it’s just his Talent.

“Lance?” Keith calls, and Lance realizes that he spaced out.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks. For coming. And listening to me.”

 “Anytime,” Lance says.

Keith looks up at him again.

“I know you have work today, but can you stay with me until you have to go?” Keith asks.

Lance nods, and Keith settles back against him. Lance drops his head back against the couch, and rubs Keith’s back until he has to get up for work. He makes a mental note to text Allura later. He’s definitely going to need a therapy session after this.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter title from Let's Dance to Joy Division by The Wombats. 
> 
> Ahh, I've wanted to write this for forever. I just couldn't figure out what fandom/characters I wanted to use, and season 6 solidified wanting to use Lance, haha. I'm so excited for this one, so I hope you guys like it!


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